He Would Wear Black
by Bloody Noses
Summary: From a livejournal prompt.  Matt and Ted stay in a cabin together.  As they face hard times, they also discover truths about their feelings for each other.  Outright slash, AU, [MattTed].
1. Features an Attack

Disclaimer: I don't own Ted, Matt or Bennet. Unfortnatly.

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_To Mr. Sprague and Mr Parkman. Ted–Peter Petrelli now has your power. If you two meet up, then both of your reactions to each other would be disastrous. Peter and my daughter Claire are in a house in a small city in Nebraska. You two gentleman will stay in a cabin in a Pennsylvania forest. DON'T ATTRACT ATTENTION. Ted escaped from Sylar one time, but rest assured he'll be after you again. Bennet. P.S. The bears might be cranky–subdivisions have been popping up everywhere._

"Wow, that's helpful," Matt muttered as he trekked through the woods, looking at Bennet's letter to them. The bears might be cranky. He hated bears. He never liked them at the zoo, he didn't like them in the wild, he didn't like them PERIOD. He was cranky. Very cranky. The thought of spending god-knows-how-long in a cabin was the main source of his crankiness. "I hate this."

"Hey, at least you're with me," Ted said smiling somewhat seductively. Matt's face started to turn red. Why did Ted do things like that? They were friends. During their crazy cross-country trip to New York, the two had bonded. Before they hated each other, now they were practically friends. Just friends. "Better me than...Peter Petrelli. Who the hell is he?" Ted said, looking at Matt.

"Beats me," Matt said, shrugging. "Claire's boyfriend or something." He honestly didn't know at all. It seemed that Bennet operated on two different levels. One level was the Matt and Ted level, while the other half involved Claire and this Petrelli fellow. He looked at a map. "It should be right up ahead," Matt said, looking up. Indeed, there was a cabin there. It might be the fact that they were far away, but it looked really small.

"Whoo-hoo," Ted muttered. The two trekked towards the cabin. As they got closer, both of their expressions changed to disgust. "Christ," Ted said, frowning. The cabin looked like nobody lived in it for a good while. A window was broken, and the door was open. There were paw prints leading up to the door.

"Oh shit," Matt said, sighing. He walked up to the window and peered in it. Matt bit his lip and swore under his breath. Not here, not now. "Ted? There's a goddamn bear in our cabin." Ted ran up towards the window and peered in it also.

"Okay, I'll go nuke it," Ted said, hands starting to glow. He smiled deviously. Matt sighed. He just wanted something to nuke.

"Hold it," Matt said, frowning. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the bear. _It was sleeping...it didn't want to be hurt. The bulldozers scared it. They destroyed its home. All it wanted was peace. _Matt looked further in the window. The bear was asleep on a rug. It wasn't a big bear, just medium-sized. A mouse ran by, almost under the bear's nose. "Yeah. Go nuke it. But be careful."

"Going to fucking murder Glasses," Ted muttered, hands glowing. He stormed into the cabin. Matt peered in the room, concentrating on the bear and it's thoughts. Matt's face squinched up in a Hiro-esque manner as he telepathically tried to shoo the bear away, make it go to bed, anything to make it get out and not hurt Ted. The bear suddenly shot up, as Ted applied a glowing hand to the bear's backside. It roared. Matt, still trying to fuck up the bear thought-wise, paid little attention to Ted's heroic battle. After a few moments, the bear ran out.

"Ted?" Matt said, sticking his head in the doorway. "Are you alright?"

"GET THE FUCKING NEOSPORIN."

- - - -

Matt bit his lip as he applied another bandage to Ted's body. "Stop crying!" Matt said sighing. He squirted out some more Neosporin and rubbed it on a wound. The bear didn't cause many wounds...oh hell, it caused many wounds, even with Matt trying to telepathically sedate it. Fortunately, none of the wounds were that deep.

"I'm not crying," Ted said, as another tear ran down his face. He squinched up his face harder, gripping the sheets of the bed he was sitting on. "Don't touch that there!"

"I can't apply the Neosporin if you keep on squirming!" Matt said, frowning. Ted came in there, charging like a bull. An irate radioactive bull. Of course a bear would be pissed. "And stop glowing!"

"Sorry!" Ted said, as his glow faded. Matt looked at Ted, sighing.

"That was very brave of you," Matt said, smiling. He squeezed the last of the Neosporin out of the tube and rubbed it on Ted's cheek. Ted's face was red, either from crying, from the kiss or from fighting the bear. "I'm glad you're here," Matt said, putting a hand on Ted's cheek. "Thank you for attacking the fucking bear."

"We're going to kill that thing and make a goddamn rug out of it," Ted said, obviously pissed off that he was crying. Matt could tell because his scowl had gotten deeper and more pronounced. Lately, he had started to pick up on Ted's little quirks. Both looked into each others eyes for a moment. Ted sighed, then stood up. He stretched towards the ceiling. "Is there a bathroom in this place? Any sort of plumbing at all?"

Matt stood up from his chair, looking around. He just now realized what a hellhole the camp was. Cobwebs adorned the window, everything had a permanent layer of dust on it, and what little furniture (a table, two chairs and two beds) there was looked like it would break at any moment. Matt walked around the cabin, looking for the bathroom. This wasn't a cabin. It was a decrepit room.

"Found it," Ted said, somewhat disgustedly. He stuck his head out of a doorway and flagged Matt over. His face looked like he was going to vomit. Matt hurried over. If anything was dead in that bathroom, he would strangle Bennet. Come to think of it, he would strangle Bennet for putting him in this hellhole in the first place.

"Oh god," Matt said, his face mimicking Ted's. The curtain-less shower was the safest looking thing in the bathroom, and even it was covered in dust and had a rusty showerhead. The sink had something green in it. Ted's hands glowed. _Whatever it is, a good dose of radiation will kill it, _he thought. "Probably not," Matt said looking closer at the sink. Ted glared at him. "Sorry," Matt muttered. It probably still creeped Ted out when he responded to his thoughts. He turned his attention back to the sink. The 'hot' knob had fallen off. He didn't know what the hell the green shit was, even from a close angle. There was something green growing in the toilet bowl also. The toilet had a rusted handle and looked ready to break any moment.

"Jesus Christ," Matt muttered, staring at the ceiling. There was a suspicious wet spot on it. He didn't want to know, he didn't want to know.

- - - -

Ted rolled around in the sheets. He was asleep and dreaming. "No..." he muttered under his breath. He broke out into a sweat. Obviously, it was a nightmare. "No...Sylar...Sylar...Matt...run." He tensed up in the sheets. Suddenly Ted sprang up, breathing heavily. It was a dream, it was a dream. Ever since that night in New York, he had been tense. The thought of a madman wanting your brain can do that to you. He agreed to go on this trip to relax. He wanted to relax. He needed to relax. With all this pent-up confusion, anger, and fear he could explode. And that was never good. Ted looked over at Matt, sleeping soundly. Of course, that was another reason for this crazy camping trip. He wanted to be with Matt. He had overheard Matt telling Bennet that he would go home soon. Go home to his wife. Escape this madness. Ted was jealous of her, and he had never met her before. He wanted Matt for himself. Ted chuckled, looking up at the ceiling. He sounded like a jealous mistress. Like a lover. Was he one? Settling back on his bed, he concentrated on sleep.


	2. Has Wandering Thoughts

Disclaimer: I don't own anybody. However, I do own Matt's crossword puzzles from hell.

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Ted sat on the floor, eyes shut, legs crossed. He made a small explosion in his right hand, then a few seconds later, he made one in his left. It wasn't exactly traditional Zen, but explosions calmed him. He really didn't know why. Explosion in right hand, explosion in left. His feelings were all jumbled up ever since that bear attack. For some reason, when Matt was tending to his wounds Ted was reminded of his wife, bandaging him up after he got into a scrap with a dog. His wife...he thought he had moved on, but had he really? Ted sighed, concentrating again. He had begun to glow. It sucked when his powers reflected his feelings. Explosion in right, explosion in left. He could hear Matt approaching. He could hear his feet loudly crunch the leaves on the ground. Explosion in right hand, explosion in left. A bird chirped. He didn't like birds, but at least they were better than bears. Explosion in right hand, explosion in left. He heard the door slam shut and a clunk near the fireplace. Ah, Matt got firewood. That's good. But...they had a fireplace? Explosion in right hand, explosion in left. Since when was there a fireplace? Was it that insertion in the wall covered in cobwebs? 

"Ted? HELP!" Ted opened his eyes and sprang up. He ran over to Matt, who was looking at his leg, trying to frantically brush something off. Ted walked over and looked at his leg. There was something small and brown moving on his leg.

"Just a tick?" Ted said, looking up at Matt. He frowned. Why was Matt freaking out so much? "I'll just burn it off." His right hand started to glow. He pointed a finger at the tick, hoping to make it run away or burn it to death. He really didn't want to set Matt's leg on fire. They already used up most of the bandages on him.

"Don't let it bite me," Matt said, looking down at Ted. "And save the head!"

"Why the hell do you save the head?"

"So we can check it for Lyme Disease when we get back home."

"Lyme Disease? What the fuck?" Ted looked up at Matt. How did he know these things? Was there a class in cop school called 'diseases for dumbasses' or something like that?

"My cousin got it, I don't know what it is-just get the damn tick off!" The tick was starting to smoke now. Ted moved his finger back, toning his glow down.

"Uh Matt?"

"Yeah Ted?"

"Erm, I think I killed it." He brushed the now dead tick off of Matt's leg. Matt's eyes followed Ted as he stood up. The two stared at each other for a moment.

"Did you save the head?" Ted glared at Matt. How was he supposed to remember to save the head? He was trying to not fry his leg! Did Matt want a large burn on his leg? Apparently he freaking did! Still glaring at Matt, Ted stormed over to the fireplace. Sighing, Matt walked over and patted Ted on the shoulder in a comforting manner. "Thanks for killing it."

- - - -

Matt closed his eyes, thinking. He sat at a chair at the almost-broken table. To most people, he looked asleep. However, if you looked closely his chest was rising up and down in a rhythmic matter. His foot was lightly tapping on the floor. He was awake. Awake and confused.

He had a wife. He loved his wife dearly. After all, he chose her out of all the women in Los Angeles. She was pregnant with their baby. But...is it possible to love another as dearly as he loved his wife? He would give up his life for Janice. But he would also give it up for Ted. Is it possible he made a mistake? Matt hated to admit it, but he was pretty sure that he loved Ted. He had grown fond of the man during their misadventures. Very fond. But...he loved Janice. If he had to choose, who would it be? Not wanting to dive further into his abyss of thoughts, he returned to his previous activity.

Matt sighed, tapping the table with a pencil. At a gas station, he bought a book of crossword puzzles, hoping that they would keep him entertained. Unfortunately, he wasn't good at crossword puzzles. All of the crossword puzzles also seemed to be at demonic-hard level. He didn't know what he was thinking when he bought it. The radio played in the background, playing solely static.

He wondered how Ted's job was coming. He personally thought Ted was insane when he said that he would radiate the green stuff off of the sink. At the moment, he smelled a faint whiff of smoke coming from the bathroom. Damn, was he trying to fry the plumbing? Matt concentrated on Ted. _Christ, this is harder than I thought. Damn shit won't come off._ Matt sighed.

Six letter word for 'Large dog, Border is a popular variety'. Border what? Matt sighed, thinking. Border Chihuahua, Border Sheepdog, Border Collie? That sounded right, Border Collie. Writing it down, he sighed. Well, that raised his total to ten words out of sixty. Seven letter word for 'Blondie hit'. How was Ted doing?

_I am NOT touching the toilet. The green shit in there can keep on growing. Matt can take care of that. This thing is hell to burn off. It's working...slowly...burn dammit! That's it._ Matt saw a bit more glow shine from the crack between the door and the floor.

Five letter word for 'James Earl '. Well that one was easy. James Earl Jones. He wrote down the answer and moved on to the next one. Nine letter word for 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor '. Erm, what the fuck? Matt had never heard of that in his entire life. He turned his attention back to Ted.

_Damn green shit, damn Bennet, damn cabin, damn-_

"Squeek."

_Wait a moment..._

"Squeek."

_HOLY SHIT! _There was what sounded like a small explosion from the bathroom. Matt's eyes widened as he stood up and raced to the bathroom.

"Ted? What the hell just happened?"

"Uh...I'm fine. You might not want to come in here. I'll clean it up, don't worry."


	3. Ends With a Promise

Disclaimer: Don't own anybody, etc. etc.

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It was near midnight, and Ted couldn't sleep. They been sharing a cabin for a week. There hadn't been any more bears, but Matt had walked in on Ted showering and Ted had ended up burning a hole in the sink trying to radiate the green stuff off of it. That had been a bad idea. At least the plumbing worked...sort of. Neither of them wanted to use the toilet, seeing as the green shit scared the...well, it scared the shit out of them. Fortunately, there were trees outside and he hadn't burned up the toilet paper yet. Ted rolled over in his bed, as it squeaked ominously under him. 

"Hey Matt?" Ted said from the other side of the room. Matt turned over, looking at Ted. "Stay put," Ted said hopping out of bed. Grabbing the back two legs, he picked them up. Grunting a bit, he dragged the bed closer to Matt's. Matt popped up from the bed and ran towards Ted.

"Don't move for a second." Grabbing the other two legs, Matt lifted them up. Both Matt and Ted awkwardly waddled towards Matt's bed, holding Ted's. Not very daintily, they put Ted's bed on the floor. Scooting over, Matt pushed it so that the two beds were now touching. "There we go," he said, smiling. Ted was slightly worried that Matt would think it awkward, sleeping together. However, he seemed rather fine with it. Did he feel the same way Ted did himself?

"Great," Ted said, happily hopping into his bed. Matt crawled in, a bit more daintily than Ted. The two snuggled together, Matt sleeping just in pants, Ted sleeping in a shirt. Together, they had one pajama set. Ted looked at Matt's face. His eyes were already closed, asleep. Matt laid back on his bed, closing his eyes. He snuggled closer to Ted. Ted smiled, snuggling closer to Matt. Matt felt good to snuggle next to. A few minutes passed with neither of them talking or doing anything. "Matt. Are you up?" Ted asked, rather quietly.

"Yeah...why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." Silence. Ted turned over to face Matt. "What will you do if I die?" Matt looked taken aback by this question. "I'm serious," Ted said, looking at Matt. "Sylar's after my brain. I could die any day now. After today, we'll be halfway across the country."

Matt remained silent. Ted looked at him with pleading eyes. He wanted an answer. He wanted to know what he would do. "I would mourn you," Matt said, looking at Ted. "No matter what, I'd go to your funeral. On the day of your birthday I'd wear white and on the day of your death I'd wear black. And I'd try to get you buried next to your wife." Matt looked at Ted. Both knew that Ted could die. At the moment, both knew their feelings for each other. Both knew their love. Both knew that this relationship had no chance.

"Thank you," Ted said, looking at Matt's face. "I'd like that." He scooted his head closer to Matt's and gave him a kiss. Matt blushed. He obviously wasn't expecting this. The kiss lingered for about ten seconds. It was the best ten seconds of Ted's life. Ted let go. Matt tasted somewhat like peaches. Ted liked that taste.

Matt leaned over and gave Ted a kiss in return. Ted felt like a balloon as his lips touched Matt's. He felt like he was floating. After what seemed like ages, they broke apart, both smiling at each other. They remained silent, not wanting to spoil the moment. Matt spoke first. "Good night Ted. Sleep well."

"Pfft, who said any-"

Suddenly, the door was blown off its hinges and slammed into the table. Ted sprang up, hands glowing. Matt concentrated on Ted, forming a sort of telepathic highway between them. Now Ted could read Matt's thoughts and Matt could read Ted's thoughts. It was a trick that Ted appreciated greatly. Sylar entered, looking around at the room. Ted's eyes widened as Matt gasped. No. Not him. Not now. Anything but him. Ted looked horrified. He had to protect Matt. Sylar wanted his brain, he needed to protect Matt.

"I didn't expect to see you here Matt," Sylar said, smiling that creepy smile. "No matter. I can just kill two birds with one shot."

"LEAVE MATT ALONE!" Ted roared, hands glowing fiercely. Sylar just chuckled, raising an eyebrow at Ted's outburst. "You tried to kill me before," Ted said, hands glowing. Matt looked at Ted curiously. Ted bit his lip. Matt wasn't there. How the hell could he inform him and fight at the same time? _Remember when you and Bennet were going to disable the Walker project? Hanson caught me, but Sylar knocked the truck I was in over. I was almost dead, but as he started to cut my head open, I released as much radiation as I could._ "You failed."

"Survive this," Sylar said, levitating the table. He threw it at Ted, who burned it. Matt had to get out of here. He didn't want Matt to die. If he died and Matt lived, it would be all right with him. Matt had a wife. He knew that Matt loved her, and she loved him. It would be all right. _It knocked Sylar for a loop, but freed me from the bonds Hanson put me in. We fought, then this Japanese guy with a freaking sword randomly shows up. Sylar starts to go for him, so I run away. _It would be all right.

"You'll have to do better than that," Ted said, shooting a large blast of radiation at Sylar. Without much effort, Sylar put up a telekinetic shield, blocking him from the radiation. However, Matt cried out in pain. Ted looked at him. Matt was clutching his arm, which was burned. His nose was bleeding from the strain of keeping the telepathic highway in one piece. Ted looked horrified. How could he have been so stupid? _Matt. Run._

_What? _Matt thought in return. _I can't do that. He'll kill you! He's inhumane, he's insane, he's-_

_DO WHAT I SAY! _Ted thought-yelled, dodging a freezing blast from Sylar, but only narrowly. He felt like a mouse. The cat was playing with his food before he ate it. At that moment, Ted knew the truth. He would die. No matter what Matt did to help, he would die. _He only wants **my** brain. If you stay around, he'll kill you also. You have a wife, a child. Please...do this for me. _Ted shot another radiation blast at Sylar, who dodged it with ease.

Matt stood up, and nodded, tears forming in his eyes. _I love you._

_I love you too, _Ted thought, smiling. "Alright Sylar," he said, nodding at Matt. "Time to meet your maker."

"We'll see about that," Sylar nonchalantly replied. Matt scooted behind Ted, dropping the telepathic highway. Suddenly, Ted felt alone. Naked. Levitating a chair up, Sylar threw it at Ted. Suddenly, Ted grew very bright. Shooting off a massive amount of energy at Sylar, Ted grinned. This was it. He would die with his boots on. Sylar raised a hand in front of his eyes as he put up another telekinetic shield. Matt knocked out a window with the remaining chair and jumped through it, running away through the woods. Good. Ted's body began to glow more, and more. Suddenly, Sylar telekinetically pinned him to the wall. Ted's glow slowly faded. Fuck.

"You've put up the best fight yet," Sylar said, pointing his index finger at Ted's forehead. "Too bad you failed."

- - - -

Matt ran. He didn't care where he was running to, he just ran. He needed to get away. It was what Ted wanted. Ted wanted him to be with his wife. Ted wanted him to be alive. What was it he promised Ted? Oh yes. He would wear white on his birthday and black on his deathday. As he ran, tears filled his eyes. He didn't even know when Ted's birthday was. He didn't know. He barely knew anything about the man he just now called his lover. Matt kept on running. He heard an explosion in the background. Who was that? Was Ted dead? Was Sylar dead? He didn't look behind him, but kept running. Tears streamed from his eyes. He smelt smoke. Something was burning? It was probably the cabin. It was probably Ted. Oh Ted...

Tripping on a rock, Matt fell to the ground. He threw out his hands to prevent him from hitting something sharp. He felt something trickle down his foot. He was bleeding. That didn't matter though. Nothing mattered now that Ted was gone. No–he wasn't gone yet. He didn't know, he didn't know. Standing up, Matt continued to run, tears clouding his vision.

He had to find civilization. He had to call Bennet. He had to call Janice. Yes...Janice. She must be worried sick about him. He had to get back to her. It was what Ted would want. Matt fell again. This time, he didn't even bother to catch himself. He just sat on the ground...crying. "Ted...Ted..." Matt muttered, through tears. He slowly stood up and continued to run, slightly slower this time. He needed to go home. For Janice. For his baby. For Ted. Yes. He needed to go home. Not caring about his bleeding feet and nose, he ran. From now on, today he would wear black. He would wear black for Ted.


End file.
